Day 9 - Come and gone!

Today was my 9th day of juice feasting. And it was a wonderful day. I woke up around 9am (I really do need to get to bed earlier), had a marvelous bm, weighed myself, (down another pound!)(I think I have lost 7 pounds so far... took a shower and then went downstairs to drink my fiber drink and make juice. Made 2 1/2 quarts of green juice....and went outside and sat in the sun reading Paul Hawkens new book, "Blessed Unrest" I didn't get that far into it but it looks to be extremely interesting.

It is about all of the people, groups, organizations etc. around the world who are doing their part for peace, environment, justice, poverty etc. These are independent, non-governmental organizations. Paul Hawken got the idea to write about them and there are many many many....after he took a look at all the business cards people had handed him on his speaking tours. He had thousands, and had estimated that he would find maybe 100.000 groups out in the world, but he found at least 10 if not 20 times that many. And this book is about his findings.

It has a wonderful quote in it from Martha Graham, which contains the phrase, 'blessed unrest'
"There is vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique....You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open....[There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the other."

and another from Mary Oliver..... which says" One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting bad advice."

I love these two quotes, I think I am going to write them large and put them up on my wall...everywhere, to always be inspired by them. Supported by them.

Today is Sunday and our new Sunday routine is to take a longish bike ride. Some times longer than others, todays was medium. Last Sunday's was long. No one rode any bikes yesterday, but we all did today. However it seems we shall keep the bike shop in business as I changed my gears when not moving, at a very bad time, and my gear shifter on the left side (for 1st, 2nd and 3rd) got sprung, and wouldn't stay where I put it...but just go back to 1st. I could get it into 2nd and 3rd gear, but I had to hold it tightly with my hand to keep it there....which I did, all the way back....as I couldn't ride home in 1st gear...at least not enjoyably. I had quite a cramp in my hand and fingers by the time we got back to the car. But it was okay. And so, I need to take my bike in, and Dakota, our 13 soon to be 14 yr old, has grown like a weed this past year, and even though we bought him a 26 inch bike, he needs a bigger one. or something. He can't straighten his legs out enough when riding...so it is not a very efficient ride.

I was proud of myself as I got all of the bikes down, put the bike carrier on the van, and loaded them all up. Mine has to go inside as the carrier doesn't work with women's bikes....hah! but that's fine...as then I can keep it in the car and get it up to the bike shop. After our bike ride we went to WF's which has a Barnes & Nobles near it, Dakota had some money he wanted to spend, and we needed dinner. And and and.....my birthday is coming up and my husband has been asking me all week, what do I want....so I looked through all of their cookbooks, and found some wonderful books of raw food recipes and info.....I do have at least 2 and some from the library, I have all kinds of cookbooks....and I looked at 6, liked 5, and picked 3. Liam, the sweetie, asked me if I liked some I had set aside and I said yes, and he said, so let's get them. So, I got 4 in all...but I can't have them yet, my birthday is not until Tuesday. One of them, isn't a raw book actually, but it's one of my favorites....."Vegan Planet". I would like for my family to be at least vegan and alot more raw (which they are open to...) There are so many great recipes in there which could be easily translated into raw recipes. Another book I looked at and do want to own at some point was Gabriel Cousens "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine Book". However it costs $30, so that one can wait for another occasion, like Christmas.

Came back home, made dinner (chicken fajitas and bean quesadillas) f( I know!!) for my family with salad, and drank the last quart of my green juice. During dinner we had a great conversation about expanding the garden in our backyard, what we want to grow (everything!!), maybe planting a fruit tree, and also where best to put a compost pile. Very exciting conversation and love it that my kids are so into it. After dinner I went out with a pitch fork, digging fork, and went at the sage. We really like the sage very much, and I told it so, but it's taking over all the other plants. Hiding some really beautiful flowers. The flowers are also taking a beating from Otis, our 16 yr old cat. He lies on them. So we need to get some little wire fencing to keep him out. We meant to get it yesterday but forgot. We were at our favorite hardware, everything store, but I absolutely can not stand to be in there except in the winter. They have all of the bags of pesticides and herbicides out front right by the entrance as you come in, right by the cashiers, they are poisoning everyone!!! It is awful, and it happens in hardware stores all across the country. I don't know how they get away with this. They are poisoning their customers and their poor employees. I always cover up my face with something so I don't have to breath it when I am in there, but it is so strong I never can stay for long. I keep meaning to write up a report, test their air, let them know how bad it is and try and get them to change how they keep it. At the very least it needs to be outside, in a well ventilated, separate area. Or just not sold at all.

After all this, I was feeling a bit dehydrated so drank a tall glass of water, then made a yummy evening juice with 3 peaches and 3 oranges.

Can't wait until Tuesday when I can get my hands on all those wonderful books.....keep wanting to make my family a raw dinner...but haven't quite gotten it together yet. They do like this wonderful raw hummus I do with almonds....but haven't got a dehydrator or tried to make any raw breads yet. Need to get some flax seeds...have a coffee grinder that is no longer used that can grind them....oh I love all of this raw, vital energy that is coming into our lives because of this juice feast.

Ciao bellas
Alessandra

Oh yeah...so I thought I would start posting my daily intake like other blogs

AM Double fiber drink...scoop of Dr.Natura's Colonix fiber along with a packet of Blessed Herbs Ginger toxin absorber fiber herb mix...in a tall glass of cool water along with a dropperful of stevia as the ginger is quite strong...shake it up, drink it down. Great for the cleansing process.

1 1/2 quarts of green juice - parsley, mizuna, dandelion greens, kale, celery, mixed greens, carrots, 2 granny smith apples, 2 fuji apples and 3 oranges...

PM (after 5) 1 quart of same green juice
1/2 quart of fruit juice...3 peaches and 3 oranges
Water
8 Primal Defense
2 capsules of Ultra Colon Clenz, right before bed